Welcome to Frugal Living NW!

I'm Angela Davis, a PNW native, mom of lots of kids, and I love saving money. I'm here to help you live well on a budget by making every penny count. You'll find deals at your local stores, ways to save online, recipes, and frugal living tips and inspiration.

When I say "gardening," I'm not talking about tilling up the acre behind the ol' homestead. Your garden may be a large plot or some containers on your apartment patio or a small herb pot on your kitchen counter. My garden is a couple of average-sized raised garden beds behind our home on a normal city lot.
For several years now, it has provided my family of four with cheap produce and free entertainment. We grow a summer garden of tomatoes, herbs, garlic, onions, rhubarb, lettuce, beans, and cucumbers. My husband and I love the whole process. We still get a kick out of dropping a tiny seed in the ground and watching it grow into something edible. My Keep Reading

We've been talking more and more about fashion here at Frugal Living NW. I absolutely LOVE sharing what I've learned about how to save money on higher quality clothing that makes you feel confident and look fantastic.
This topic is so much fun for me to talk about because I've learned SO MUCH over the past year about how to dress well for my body type, all on a budget.
So, you may be wondering what happened to get me started on my wardrobe editing journey? One-hundred percent it was the Adore Your Wardrobe eCourse.
This online video + community course taught by Kelly of RedefinedMom.com showed me that fashion is all about science. Keep Reading

All About Rice & How to Cook Perfect Brown Rice
Welcome to our All About Rice series! Find more rice cooking tips, buying suggestions, and recipes here.
For as long as I can remember, I have always read the last few pages of a book first. I can't help it. I like to know what to expect. It saves so much time and emotional energy. Oh, what's that? The main character, who I am undoubtedly going to get attached to over the next 268 pages, dies? Well, I am now left with two choices: I can either ditch the book before wasting another minute or I can relax and read it, knowing I'm not going to be rocked by any major surprises.
My husband thinks Keep Reading

Chicken Lettuce Wraps (PF Chang's copycat recipe)
My garden is exploding with greens right now. We have been drinking more green juices and eating more salads than I can count. Sometimes when we're out in the backyard, my ever-hungry kids will even climb into the raised bed and start munching on kale leaves like overgrown rabbits! I don't say anything, for fear of startling them off and losing the magical moment.
I had two beautiful heads of butter lettuce last week, so I used them to create one of my favorite copycat recipes for PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps. There are several versions of this recipe floating around the Internet, but in this one I Keep Reading

How to Grow Rhubarb
As I sit here looking out my kitchen window, it is absolutely pouring outside. Ten minutes ago, it was sunshine and blue skies. Welcome to spring in the Pacific Northwest, right? I love it, rain included. In one corner of our little backyard garden, our four rhubarb plants do too.
Rhubarb thrives in our cool climate, growing like gangbusters. The plants go dormant in the winter, then start poking through the soil in early spring. I love watching them unfurl their leaves, growing into huge green plants in a matter of weeks. Other than an occasional scoop of compost or mulch and plenty of water, they are perfectly happy to be left Keep Reading

I've shared a bit about the Adore Your Wardrobe course with you recently and want to make sure I fully explain just how this course has transformed the way I look at myself and my clothing.
Here are the changes I've made since I took the AYW course last year:
1. I now own 5 pairs of jeans that fit perfectly -- they are the right length, wash, cut AND (most importantly) completely smooth out my muffin top -- and donated about 20 pairs that didn't quite fit right.
Why was I holding onto pants that didn't work? I was swimming in the dreaded "none of these pants work right but I don't know what to buy in the store that's better so I'm stuck" Keep Reading

If you're thinking ahead to spring break or summer travel these tips from by Kari Patterson will come handy.
Efficiency is one of my core values. Chances are, if you read this blog, it's one of yours as well. We plan our errands to hit as many stores as possible in one trip. We organize our coupons by expiration date so we don't waste a single one. We read this blog so we can discover all the local deals with just one click. I do it, too.
So when I found out my cousin was getting married in Las Vegas, I immediately started planning how many other stops we could make along the way, and how we could make the trip double as a family Keep Reading